Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid issued a warning to rabbis who express their opinion that uprooting Jews is a violation of Jewish law - they may face criminal charges.
Speaking at a gathering of the Israel Bar Association last night, Lapid said, "I send from here a warning: there is a limit to the patience of the [legal] system for people, be they rabbis or not, who are seditious, and place kippah-wearing [i.e., religious] soldiers in an emotional bind, and endanger the army."
While the minister noted that he doesn't wish to "belittle the pain or sorrow of those who object to the disengagement and the evacuation of settlements, he stated, "The faith of the rabbis in the Land of Israel does not give them the authority to call for insubordination and violence."
He further accused the growing list of rabbis who religiously oppose uprooting Jews from the Land of Israel of leading the country to civil war. The State of Israel, he said, may deteriorate to a situation like that of Spain during that country's civil war, "when millions of Spaniards killed each other."
Lapid said that if anything else (such as religion or Torah law) is put on a higher level than the "sanctity of the law" of the State, then a civil war becomes more likely.
Minister Lapid did not name any particular rabbis in his speech, saying that the decision to press charges rests with the Attorney General. However, the most prominent rabbi who specifically stated that Jewish Law mandates each soldier to refuse to uproot Jewish homes in Israel is former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira. Rabbi Shapira stated his position recently in an interview with the B'Sheva weekly.
In response to the speech by Minister Lapid, the Forum for the Land of Israel released a statement saying: "His statements are reminiscent of fascist anti-Semitic regimes that charged rabbis for teaching Torah and the commandments.... An order to expel citizens from their homes is a patently illegal order which it is forbidden to obey." The Forum has offered legal counsel for any rabbi or soldier charged for their opposition to Prime Minister Sharon's "disengagement" plan.
Speaking at a gathering of the Israel Bar Association last night, Lapid said, "I send from here a warning: there is a limit to the patience of the [legal] system for people, be they rabbis or not, who are seditious, and place kippah-wearing [i.e., religious] soldiers in an emotional bind, and endanger the army."
While the minister noted that he doesn't wish to "belittle the pain or sorrow of those who object to the disengagement and the evacuation of settlements, he stated, "The faith of the rabbis in the Land of Israel does not give them the authority to call for insubordination and violence."
He further accused the growing list of rabbis who religiously oppose uprooting Jews from the Land of Israel of leading the country to civil war. The State of Israel, he said, may deteriorate to a situation like that of Spain during that country's civil war, "when millions of Spaniards killed each other."
Lapid said that if anything else (such as religion or Torah law) is put on a higher level than the "sanctity of the law" of the State, then a civil war becomes more likely.
Minister Lapid did not name any particular rabbis in his speech, saying that the decision to press charges rests with the Attorney General. However, the most prominent rabbi who specifically stated that Jewish Law mandates each soldier to refuse to uproot Jewish homes in Israel is former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira. Rabbi Shapira stated his position recently in an interview with the B'Sheva weekly.
In response to the speech by Minister Lapid, the Forum for the Land of Israel released a statement saying: "His statements are reminiscent of fascist anti-Semitic regimes that charged rabbis for teaching Torah and the commandments.... An order to expel citizens from their homes is a patently illegal order which it is forbidden to obey." The Forum has offered legal counsel for any rabbi or soldier charged for their opposition to Prime Minister Sharon's "disengagement" plan.